Anton Gorsky's book is dedicated to debunking persistent myths about the Russian Middle Ages, which are not only ingrained in our consciousness, but also included as facts in school textbooks. But if you re-read the sources, you will find that the transfer of the nominal capital of Rus' from Kyiv to Vladimir occurred not under Yuri Dolgoruky in the 12th century, but a century later under Alexander Nevsky and his descendants. Nicknames for ancient Russian princes, as a rule, were not given by their contemporaries, and Yaroslav became the Wise only at the end of the 19th century. Dmitry Donskoy always, even after the Battle of Kulikovo, viewed the khan’s power as legitimate. The word “slave,” which the boyars called themselves in addressing the sovereign at the end of the 15th–17th centuries, goes back to the Turkic designation of the nobility, and its coincidence with the ancient Russian name for slaves is nothing more than a curiosity of the interaction of languages. This and much more is discussed in this interesting book. Anton Gorsky is a Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of History of Russia before the 19th century, Faculty of History, Moscow State University.